Norris Edges Out Piastri in Brazilian Practice
Lando Norris has beaten his teammate at each of the last five grands prix.
The McLaren driver just pipped team-mate and title rival the Australian for the top spot in the dying seconds of the practice session at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
The British racer, who took the points lead from Piastri by just one point after winning in Mexico City two weeks ago, beat the Australian by 0.023 seconds.
Before then, Oscar Piastri had been the fastest McLaren driver during the running before sprint qualifying due at 6:30 PM GMT.
Max Verstappen, the sole remaining contender in realistic title contention, sitting 36 points behind behind Norris, was classified in 17th position as his team followed a unique setup.
His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to crash, albeit lightly, when he rotated at Turn Four during the early running.
Tsunoda slid over the track edges before sliding over the escape zone, and was blessed to avoid just a minor contact of the wall.
The Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton also had a spin, at the final moments of the practice, spinning around through the quick descending corner before the last turn on to the start-finish straight.
Hamilton finished practice in 19th place, just behind team-mate the Monegasque driver.
The McLaren drivers were well clear of the remaining drivers, with Nico Hulkenberg's car in third, 0.619 seconds off Piastri's best.
The Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso was in fourth, with Sauber's Bortoleto fifth from the Mercedes of George Russell and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Sainz.
